The mysterious tribes of the world that do not oppose the arrival of tourists still exist on our planet. Representatives of these nationalities adhere to the laws of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers and do not at all seek to acquire smartphones with high-speed Wi-Fi, smart watches and other benefits of civilization.
It is believed that the Earth is still home to 150 million people who belong to one tribe or another. Some of them do not want to know that another world exists somewhere, and in every possible way guard their cozy little world. These tribes include the community on the North Sentinel Island, which belongs to India. Aborigines from this island do not let anyone in at all, defending themselves from aliens from the mainland with arrows.
People from other tribes willingly communicate with travelers, tell tourists about their traditions and customs, and invite them to participate in rituals. Our story is about such peoples.
Rungus (Malaysia)
In the northeast of the island of Kalimantan there is the state of Sabah. Its main city is called Kota Kinabalu. Tourists use this town as a starting point for exploring the surrounding area. The main attractions for visitors are the Kinabalu reserve and the settlements of the Rungus tribes near the village of Kudat.
Rungus villages are concentrated along the main road connecting Kota Kinabalu with Kudat. Anyone who is interested in the culture of an exotic tribe should look into the villages:
- Gombitsau, whose inhabitants grow unique medicinal herbs and offer delicious honey for sale;
- Sumangkap, where you can watch a beautiful gong;
- Bawanggazo is an exemplary settlement where tourists are welcomed in the long traditional tribal dwellings;
- Minyak, where you can take advantage of the hospitality of one of the families and spend a few days with her, observing the life of the tribe from the inside.
Rungus women are real fashionistas. They make beautiful jewelry from scrap materials and put on all the trinkets on holidays.
Inta (Myanmar)
The high-mountainous lake Inle in Myanmar was chosen for life by the Inta people, which can be translated as “sons of the lake”. They built 5 villages on the water surface.
Representatives of the Inta tribe make their houses from bamboo. Each dwelling is installed on stilts above the water. Some huts are surrounded by islets of silt, which the Inta tribe lifts with special poles from the bottom of the lake. It turns out that grass and vegetables grow well on this silt: this is such a kind of small vegetable garden.
Inta live by catching fish. In the arsenal of fishermen there are special bamboo traps and nets, which must be dealt with without being distracted by boat control. Therefore, local fishermen know how to row with an oar, which is attached to one leg. Tourists are delighted with this method of rowing!
Inta fish can be tasted in numerous coastal restaurants. It is fried with vegetables and sold to guests for almost nothing.
Each Inta family owns one or more punt boats. This is the main vehicle.
Each village has schools, post offices, shops. Once a week, a market is held on the water and on the shore. Vendors trade both from boats and from regular stalls. It is here that you can buy the most interesting and unusual souvenirs.
Mentawai (Indonesia)
The Mentawai tribe living on Siberut Island has an animistic view. This people believes that everything around them: trees, grasses, animals - has its own soul, therefore, it treats the surrounding nature very carefully.
Mentawai living creatures are killed only in case of emergency. They eat mainly plant food, but sometimes they can get a turtle, a deer or a monkey with the help of an arrow soaked in poison.
Tourists, coming to visit the Mentawai, are most amazed at the canons of beauty adopted by the tribe. All the ladies here walk around with sawn sharp teeth, like sharks' teeth. Processing teeth in this way is a very unpleasant procedure that is performed by the shaman of the tribe. He uses sharp stones to grind his teeth.
The Mentawai tribe numbers about 64 thousand people. This is one of the oldest Indonesian tribes that settled on the island of Siberut about 4 thousand years ago.
Several Mentawai families live in one elongated house called the mind. It is built of wood and raised above the ground on stilts. Inside, the dwellings are decorated with the skulls of those animals that the ancestors of the Mentawai once killed.
Those aborigines who have lost their soul mate live in a house called Rusuk.
Bora Indians (Peru)
The Bora Indians, who live on the banks of the Nanai River in the Amazon, migrated here from Colombia. Since then, the tribe has decreased by 6 times and consists of only 500 people.
The Bora people are considered to be contact people, willingly accepting tourists, but keeping their distance with them, in every possible way demonstrating the gap between themselves and the visitors. Some members of the tribe know Spanish, so they explain to tourists everything that interests them.
Tourists mainly go to the Bora tribe to chat with local shamans, who are considered to be very powerful, can heal, predict the future and travel between worlds. Naturally, the guests of the tribe also want to feel a bit like magicians. This can be achieved with the help of a special drink that causes hallucinations.
Tourists can also participate in ritual dances to the sound of manguare drums and the chants of all those present. First the men dance, then the ladies join them. Tourists get involved in a common circle and have great pleasure.
Any visitor is shown the Maloka houses, which are being built by the whole tribe, and then at a general celebration they celebrate the end of construction.
Right there in the tribe you can buy original souvenirs - all sorts of crafts, the material for which is, for example, piranha fins or processed claws of animals hunted by the tribe. Dreamcatchers, necklaces, earrings look very nice.
